1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to water amusement devices, and more particularly to a water squirt toy and amusement apparatus to be used therewith, the toy being particularly capable of easy and rapid filling and refilling by virtue of a specially designed and cooperative filling valve which enable the squirt toy to be used in fast action games that would not otherwise be practical. Said water squirt toy is also capable of discharging an accurately defined stream of water, over considerably extensive distances, whereby the same is capable of being utilized in conjunction with amusement apparatus when operating the same.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Water squirt toys are, of course, well-known within the prior art, and it is generally conceded that the most prevalent exponent of such type of toy is the water-pistol or water-gun. Disregarding, for the moment, however, the innumerable varieties, as well as the total number of sales, of such toys available, and recorded, respectively, within the current toy market place, such toys exhibit several technological and operational disadvantages, and there thus exists a substantial need for a new type of water squirt toy.
Water squirt toys of the water-pistol or water-gun type, for example, normally include some type of finger-actuated, trigger-operated pump mechanism which causes a predetermined amount of water to be discharged in a defined stream through a constricted opening or nozzle disposed in the front of the toy, whereby the discharged stream may be expelled in the direction in which the toy is pointed during the use of the same. The trigger-type pump mechanisms, however, are often difficult to operate, especially by means of a young child, and as such mechanisms are often made of plastic material, or encased within plastic housings, the same are quite susceptible to breakage whereby the squirt toy can no longer be used.
Furthermore, as the pump mechanism is of the intermittently actuated type, the water discharged thereby comprises only a predetermined quantity and therefore the use of such water toys is quite limited and the same cannot in fact be readily employed within games requiring a substantially continuous discharge stream. Still further, as the reservoir capacity of such water toys is normally small, prolonged use of such toys within particular games is not deemed readily practicable, or alternatively, at best, frequent refilling of the toys is necessitated, however, as such toys also exhibit a small, plug-type opening leading into the reservoir, filling or refilling of the same is awkward, difficult, quite time-consuming, and messy. The ranges of such apparatus also tends to be limited, large streams of water are not available, and the stream size cannot be varied.
Still yet further, while other types of water squirt toys may exhibit some of the desirable features noted hereinabove, such as, for example, being capable of discharging a continuous stream of water over a considerable range, such apparatus remains difficult and messy to fill, have no means to precisely vary the size of the discharged stream, and the same are capable of holding a moderate supply of water. In addition, such apparatus are often difficult or awkward to hold, carry, aim, and shoot, because of the flexibility thereof.